An intra-party debate over how best to deflect Republican attacks on transgender issues has Democrats angrily sniping at each other just weeks out from the midterm elections.
Why it matters: This is not the position Democrats hoped to be in two years after their 2024 election loss, which many in the party attributed to being outflanked by GOP messaging on trans issues.
President Trump is reportedly poised to suspend restrictions on a type of diesel fuel that is currently exempt from taxes in a move intended to deliver temporary pricing relief.
President Trump said Monday that the United States will help Russia amid a potential case of pneumonic plague, though he hasn't spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about it.
Why it matters: International concern spiked over the weekend over the news that a Russian lab worker had died from a possible case of pneumonic plague, reminding some of how the COVID-19 epidemic began.
States are taking on the stubbornly high fuel prices squeezing Americans ahead of the midterm elections, pushing through tax holidays and other tactics to offer relief while federal efforts have stalled.
Why it matters: With November 3 less than 30 days away, the political stakes of those price-lowering levers — even if the relief is only modest — are surging amid sky-high costs.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) is urging Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei against an "alarmist approach" and "panic-inducing commentary" on AI, according to a letter sent Monday and obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: It's the latest example of President Trump's allies targeting Amodei. Moreno's letter comes ahead of Anthropic's expected historic IPO, with valuation estimates as high as nearly $2 trillion.
A suspected pneumonic plague case in Russia rattled health officials, the White House and social media over the weekend, stoking fears about what might happen if the disease spreads around the world.
Why it matters: Pneumonic plague can spread between people and can be deadly without rapid treatment, but it moves differently than COVID-19 and is highly treatable with modern medicine.
Why it matters: The contract marks a milestone for congressional workers: It is the first long-term labor agreement of its kind in a Capitol Hill office after House staffers gained the right to unionize in 2022.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is scaling back expectations and zeroing in on a narrowed battlefield as Republicans' prospects of keeping their majority look increasingly bleak.
Why it matters: Emmer, a former National Republican Congressional Committee chair who helped the GOP unexpectedly gain seats in 2020, argues his party can still defy historical headwinds in November.
Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican House speaker in U.S. history who later admitted to sexually abusing several teenage boys, died Saturday at 84.
The big picture: Hastert was the highest-ranking elected official in U.S. history to serve time in federal prison, and Congress still conducts business under an unwritten rule named after him.
President Trump's economic officials acknowledge that a strong economy alone will not persuade Americans that they are better off under this president.
Why it matters: The administration is trying to avoid what it sees as a Biden-era mistake: touting strong economic data while Americans are still reeling from a historic run-up in prices to which Trump's policies have contributed.
For millions of children, the school day starts on a diesel-powered bus with a driver behind the wheel. Now, school districts are struggling to afford both.
Why it matters: The Iran War is sending diesel costs higher just as districts are grappling with a yearslong bus driver shortage — a double whammy that can ripple into missed breakfasts, late classes and fewer school activities.
The White House is monitoring a suspected outbreak of pneumonic plague in Russia, raising immediate concerns for scientists, researchers and health officials worldwide.
Why it matters:Pneumonic plague is the most dangerous form of plague and can spread between people through respiratory droplets. Without treatment, it is nearly always fatal, but antibiotics can be highly effective when started quickly.
President Trump's top cabinet members huddled for hours at Camp David on Friday to discuss next steps in the Iran war and the Saudi-Houthi conflict in Yemen, three U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The highly unusual meeting was not announced by the Trump administration. The last time a similar meeting took place was in June 2025, just days before Israel went to war against Iran.
The National Association of Manufacturers on Monday unveiled its first ads urging Congress to approve the bipartisan Senate plan that would speed up permitting for energy projects and other infrastructure.
Why it matters: Faster and more certain permitting is the top priority for powerful business and industry groups in the waning months of this Congress.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Olivia Walton, who's leading a $100 million, bipartisan effort to cut the U.S. maternal mortality rate in half by 2031, tells me maternal health is a solvable problem, with state governments "in the driver's seat."
"We have the medicine," Walton, who's also chair of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, told me last week on the sidelines of the annual Heartland Summit of the nonprofit Heartland Forward, which promotes economic development in America's geographic middle.
"We know what works. There are poorer and more rural countries around the world that are doing this better than we are. We also have pockets of what's working here in the United States."
The Supreme Court's next chapter begins Monday, with the justices set to decide key questions involving President Trump's immigration agenda, climate-change litigation and gun control in their new term.
The big picture: But one of the most closely watched fights may be on Truth Social, rather than the docket, as an increasingly agitated Trump chastises the high court he helped shape.
Latino voters, whose dramatic shift toward President Trump helped power his 2024 victory, are moving sharply back toward Democrats ahead of the midterms, two new national polls show.
Why it matters: Republicans built pieces of their 2026 strategy, including newly drawn House districts in Texas and Florida, around the assumption that Trump's historic Latino gains would endure. A reversal is complicating that bet in key races.
